The Los Angeles Rams had been one of the healthiest teams in football throughout the course of the regular season, although leading up and during their Wild Card matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, the injuries had started to pile up.
Despite missing a number of key players, the Rams gritted their way through a 30-20 win in Seattle, advancing to the next round of the postseason.
Who the Rams play in the next round will be determined by the result of the remaining games this weekend, as a New Orleans Saints win over the Chicago Bears would mean a trip to face the Green Bay Packers, whereas if the Bears win, they would play the winner of the Washington Football Team’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
As far as this game went though, things didn’t start off great for the Rams as starting quarterback John Wolford went down with a neck injury and was forced to be taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons. Luckily, he seems to be ok, but it was a scary moment early in the game.
With Wolford out, Jared Goff was forced to play for the Rams despite undergoing surgery on his injured thumb just 12 days ago. Goff was clearly limited throughout the game, although he made a handful of big plays to help the offense get down the field.
The real stars of the game were the Rams defense though as facing Russell Wilson and the high-powered Seahawks offense for the third time, they were able to get pressure on him all day to keep him limited.
L.A. finished with five sacks in the game, holding the Seahawks to 278 total yards while going 2-for-14 on third down. They also created two big turnovers, with Darious Williams jumping a screen to DK Metcalf for a pick-six as the big one.
Cam Akers also had a big day for the Rams, rushing for 131 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries also adding two receptions for 45 yards in his postseason debut.
Unfortunately, Wolford wasn’t the only player the Rams lost to injury in the game. Aaron Donald went down with a rib issue after a hit on Wilson in the third quarter and wasn’t able to return to the game. His status moving forward is uncertain.
Cooper Kupp, who had four receptions for 76 yards to lead the Rams in receiving, also went down with what looked to be a non-contact knee injury in the fourth quarter. Early reports luckily indicate that it was nothing serious though.
With only seven or eight days until the Rams’ next game, the injury report will still certainly be something to monitor throughout the week.
